Recorder Facts
15 Interesting Facts About The Recorder
Many people remember the recorder from their primary school days. Unlike other musical instruments, it often appears more like a children’s toy than a serious music-making tool. Regardless of how some may view it, the recorder is indeed a genuine musical instrument with a rich and fascinating history that validates its authenticity. With that in mind, here are some intriguing facts about this unique instrument that you might find interesting.
1. The instrument’s name used to make sense.
Right now, its name doesn’t sound sensical, doesn’t it? But back in its early history, the name “recorder” did make sense because it came from the Latin recordari, meaning “to recall” or “remember.” People considered it a good instrument for “recording,” which back then actually meant “to practice.” It’s only during the modern age that we started associating the word “recording” with something technological.
2. It makes a notable appearance in a Shakespearean play.
That play was Hamlet. During the third act, Hamlet asks a character named Guildenstern to play it for him. When the latter refuses, Hamlet says “Tis as easy as lying.” What this means is that Hamlet refers to a time when Guildenstern fooled him and then asks whether it is easier for Guildenstern to play the instrument than him for a fool.
3. Shakespeare also used the recorder to produce “incidental” music in some of his plays.
The most notable ones are Hamlet, as mentioned previously, and the classic humor-filled A Midsummer Night’s Dream. This was due to its massive popularity during Shakespeare’s time. The world’s most famous playwright using the world’s most famous musical instrument: now that’s a combination.
4. The infamous King Henry VIII was an avid collector of recorders.
Often more famous for his failed marriages and his weight rather than his musical ability, Henry VIII did have a certain amount of musical talent as a composer. It was a hobby for him, which led him to collect around 76 recorders before his death in 1547. And he didn’t let them collect dust in storage, either: he actually played them!
5. The word “recorder” was originally used to refer to a flute.
The French changed the name “recorder” to “flute” in the 1600s. The word “flute” itself, however, did refer to a recorder as we know it today but wasn’t actually a word until it was first used in an English poem titled The House of Fame by Geoffrey Chaucer. And when the modern flute popped up, there came a clear distinction between flutes and recorders.
6. The largest fully functioning recorder ever made was as tall as a giraffe when propped up.
It is 16 feet (5 metres) long and has holes about 3.3 inches (8.5 centimetres) wide each. It is so large that despite being fully functional, it would be almost impossible to play correctly.
7. It was an instrument meant for kings and nobility.
You might consider a recorder as a child’s toy nowadays, but back in the 16th Century, the best wind musicians were playing recorders to monarchs and upper-class households all around Europe. Not bad for something that looks like a toy now, eh?